The Secret One
by LillianaManning
Summary: In a world where people suffer daily, is a girl, hidden for her own safety. Her life was fairly peaceful until Prince Michael's selection. A whirlwind of romance, friendship, betrayal, secrets, memories and power plays. How much will Isabella give up to hide the truth? Does not encompass any characters from the original story.
1. Chapter 1 - The Introduction

_Chapter 1_

Isabella was in hiding. Well... not really in hiding but away from her homeland, her family and her culture. She was born in Spain and left her father and mother, as well as her younger brother, then 2, to move to England, where she grew up for most of her childhood. That was until she moved to Illea with one of her mother's old friends. Illea was a beautiful place, landscape wise. The country itself was in political turmoil with the royal family having supreme power over the land. The caste system was also in place, leaving no choice for the people. Rebellions were prominent as people wanted change.

Isabella sat at her desk, fussing over papers for work. She, since she was young, had taken a passion for any kind of job and because of that, was constantly busy. Her table lamp was on, and she was vigorously finishing off the billing paperwork, whilst her guardian, Maria, an ex-maid of her mother's cooked something delicious. Suddenly, the doorbell rang, signalling the postman's arrival. Maria rushed to the door, just to find one single plain looking letter from the postman. However, what was quite noticeable from it was the crest that was printed on the front. Almost all Illean people knew this crest – it was the royal family's.

Maria took the letter after she thanked the postman and hurried inside. After living in Illea for over 20 years, she knew exactly what this was for.

"Isabella darling, come down. I have something for you." Maria yelled up the stairs.

Isabella immediately stopped her work and hurried from her room as regally as she could, her black wavy hair flying behind her. She could see Maria getting increasingly excited by the minute and wondered why.

"Look, my little princess, look. It's the letter for the selection of Prince Michael." Maria gushed.

Isabella was a bit confused – what is the selection? Then she remembered what Maria and her husband Jorge told her two years ago. She vaguely recalled Maria saying it is a contest to win the heart of the Prince and to become a princess. She looked up at Maria, who had a pleading look on her face.

" _Mi querida niña_ , please sign up. Think of the experience you will have there at the palace. Please sign up _mi hija_ " _._ Maria begged.

This shocked Isabella, as Maria hardly spoke in such a tone, let alone in Spanish. Isabella thought about it – why not?

"Yes _mi amigo_ I will"

That one sentence had Maria quite giddy with excitement. She ran to the study to grab the best fountain pen she could find and dragged Isabella towards the grand table to fill out the application form. When Isabella looked at the first question, she became unsure what to fill in.

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mi querida niña – my dear girl

mi hija – my daughter

mi amigo – my friend

Hi guys, its Lilliana here. There we go, Chapter 1 of the Secret One. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Favourite if you did and follow the story. Remember to also review it so I can add what you guys want. And excuse the translations – they are from Google Translate. Also, I am currently at school so updates may be slow. Sorry :) I will try to update as quickly as possible.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Form

_Chapter 2_

The form contained many questions, spanning over multiple pages, though it was the first question that really stumped Isabella.

 **Full Name:**

Isabella looked at the form for a couple of minutes before deciding to use her Illean name.

 **Full Name:** **Isabella Ophelia Armani**

She then continued to fill out the rest of the form

 **Age: Seventeen**

 **Province: Hansport**

 **Caste: Four**

 **Job: Assistant Manager at Lucas Clothing and Student at Francesca's School for Academic Excellence**

Isabella then continued along the form until it gets to

 **Place of Birth:**

Isabella decided to not lie and said

 **Place of Birth: Madrid, Spain**

After many more questions, Isabella reached a question which made her smile.

 **Talents:**

Maria, after she saw the smile on Isabella's face, rushed over and looked down at the question that got her in that state. She started to laugh out loud.

"Oh my… well, I think there is not enough room there to write down everything." She said, whilst trying to hold in laughter.

As a young child, Isabella's mother told her to learn Spanish and Portuguese as well as to sing, the piano, the violin and how to dance. As she developed these passions, she increased the amount of languages she knew.

Isabella decided to write:

 **Talents: Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Norwegian, Italian, French, Danish, Piano, Singing, Violin and Dancing**

Isabella filled out the rest of the form and handed it to Maria.

"Oh Isabella, let's go to the province office now so we can give this form in! Quickly go and get changed!" Maria hastily said.

Isabella rushed upstairs, rapidly putting on a rose coloured floral dress, which complimented her dark tanned skin. The sandals were a black colour, contrasting to the white bow that she placed in her hair. She quickly tied her hair off in a half up half down fashion and sped down the stairs to meet up with Maria. 

The Province Office was not situated too far from where Isabella lived. As Maria and Isabella walked, they saw a fairly long line out of the office building. Many excited girls waited, chatting away to their friends. Maria decided to wait in the café next to the building whilst Isabella handed in the form.

When it was her turn to hand in the form, Isabella approached a fairly bulky man, who took in her form and read it, to make sure there were no mistakes. As he read the talents, he gave a questioning glance and Isabella, and walked over to another man, who looked like the Chief of the Office. The Chief then walked up to Isabella, with her forms.

"Are you lying when you say you can speak these languages?"

"Yes sir. My mother made me learn all these just in case we wanted to visit another country"

He gave her a curious look and then gave the papers back to the bulky guy so he could finish off.

After Isabella had her photo taken, she rushed outside into the café to find Maria, and then the two of them, with happy smiles on their faces, walked home.

At night, as Isabella fell asleep into a deep slumber, a fantasy played in her head.

 **FANTASY**

"I see you Cat! I see you!" yelled Nick.

Cat started to joyfully scream, as any 8 year old would do if they were being chased around the garden. She ran towards the swinging chair, which was in the middle of the large rose garden, by an ash tree. The chair itself resembled a white ornate throne for three, complete with intricate designs on its back. She rushed to the ash tree and hid behind it, hoping that Nick would not find her.

Looking up, Catalina saw the bright blue of the sky as well as the sun, shinning over the hills and valleys that surrounded the home. She suddenly felt two hands grabbing her from either side. Cat squealed with surprise.

"I caught you Cat" Nick yelled as she quickly fell to the ground laughing. Nick fell down with her, amused; his arms around her waist, not letting her go.

They stayed there for another couple of minutes, laughing, until Cat got up again and started running.

"You cannot catch me this time," she said to him.

This quickly started up another round of cat and mouse.

As they ran on the cobble paths leading to the orchard, they heard another set of footsteps following their trail. Cat turned around to see Alexandra, Nick's younger sister at the end on the path.

"I want to join in too Cat." she said.

Catalina hastily started to run towards her saying, "I am going to catch you".

Alex ran towards the entry to their home, as she hitched up her floor length dress from the leaf covered pathway.

Cat ran into the large entry room of the house to find Alex hiding behind a seat. She unsuspectingly crept towards her and caught Alexandra.

Alex started to giggle as Cat proceeded to tickle her. Her loud laughs echoed through the walls of her home.

The two of them were suddenly stopped mid laughter by Lucinda, the head "mistress". Next to her is Nick, who stood there with a smirk on his face.

"How many times do I have to tell you girls not to run around? It is improper for a girl to do so" said Lucinda, as a small smile made its way onto her face.

Both Cat and Alex both got up and said, "Sorry miss", whilst they tried not to laugh.

Nick's face went red as he tried very hard to keep his laughter in.

Lucinda walked away, constantly looking back to see if they were up to no good. After she exited the room, they all burst out into howling laughter, with Nick's being the loudest.

 **END OF FANTASY**

Isabella woke to the birds chirping and the sun peaking over the horizon, a smile on her face.

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Hi Guys, Lilliana here with another chapter. I will admit that I started this chapter just after I started with Chapter 1 so that is why this chapter is quite quick to be released. As always, please favourite and follow this story if you enjoyed it. I have started with the next chapter, but there is a lot more to write and edit so it will probably be up hopefully by the end of the week. PM me if you have any ideas. I will try and incorporate it into my story. I do already have a plan of what I want to do, so if it doesn't fit that, then I might not be able to do it. :)


	3. Chapter 3 - The Announcement

_Chapter 3_

It had been almost a week since Isabella put in her application. She sat on the brown sofa, a cup of hot chocolate in her hands, reading a Spanish book Maria had given her for her birthday a year ago. Maria finished up her cooking, and came and sat next to Isabella.

They decided to tune into the TV, as the weekly report was on. A few minutes after turning it on, the Illean nation anthem started to play, and the royal family appeared with Gavril (the host of the show).

There was King Maxwell, who sat on his throne, his pale skin, dirty blond hair and blue eyes piercing through the screen of the TV. Next to him, there was Queen Genevieve, with her blonde hair cascading down her back in soft curls. Her smile portrayed a sweet and caring personality. Prince Michael was there, looking like the 18-year-old version of his father. But what caught Isabella's eye was the Prince's younger sister, Princess Gabriella.

Even though she was only two years younger than her brother, Princess Gabriella hardly ever turned up for the report. Her soft, long blonde curls were pinned up in an elegant hairstyle.

After half an hour of talking about government and civil news, Gavril walked up to the royal family, and in particular, Prince Michael.

"Prince Michael, how do you feel about the upcoming selection?"

Prince Michael replied, a bit hesitantly, "I feel excited but also nervous to see the girls. I cannot wait to see them at the palace.

"Have you seen who any of the girls are?"

Michael gave out a curious look whilst saying, "No I have not. It was purposely kept from me."

After a while talking to the rest of the family excluding the Princess, Gavril announced, with his voice echoing through the room they were in, "People of Illea. Let's join together to congratulate the following girls, who will take part in Prince Michael's selection."

Maria, when that proclamation was made, subconsciously gripped Isabella's arm, like a baby gripping its blanket.

"Miss Alianna Prince of Allens, Three." A girl with streaky, straight blonde hair came into view. Her turquoise eyes stood out from her pale complexion.

"Miss Jessika Shorton of Angeles, Two." A flawless girl, with big eyelashes flashed onscreen. Isabella and Maria begin to gawk at how 'realistic' she looked.

Isabella tuned out for a while as the candidate for Hansport was far from being called out.

When she tuned back in, she heard:

"Miss Samantha Reighland of Dakota, Two." The two of them looked at the model with disgust. She wondered if she was as stuck up as she looked.

"Miss Jennifer Cannes of Denbeigh, Three." A shy looking, innocent girl came onto the screen.

"Miss Rebecca Hardison of Dominica, Four." A pretty girl with cute looking eyes appeared.

"Miss Alisson O'Brian of Fennley, Three." A flash of puffy brown hair came into view.

Isabella was incredibly tense as she knew Hansport was next.

"Miss Isabella Armani of Hansport, Four." Maria was the first one up, screaming in joy as Isabella's picture was shown up on the screen. Isabella was in shock, with one hand covering her agape mouth. She was suddenly yanked out of her seat by a hyper Maria and dragged towards the closest telephone. Isabella took the phone and dialled her mother, father and younger brother, and hoped they were not busy. With one quick dial, the phone connected, and the voice of both of her parents became audible. After quick congratulations, the both of them rushed back to the television set, to watch the last of the contestants. "Miss Manvi Rai Thalwar of Whites, Five." A girl with brown hair and blue eyes came on the screen.

"Miss Sharonelle Zazooki of Yukon, Two." All Isabella could say was bratty.

"Miss Caitlin Stanley of Zuni, Three." An image of a very studious girl came onto the screen.

The report continued for another hour. Immediately after it was done, the phone rang multiple times, pulling both Maria and Isabella out of their trance. Maria rushed to the phone, jerking it out of it holder and started to talk with a hushed tone. As she put the phone down, tears started rolling down her face. Isabella walked into the room and her eyes widened at the sight of Maria's tears. She ran over and grabbed the elder woman into a giant hug. Maria put her head down close to Isabella's ear.

"The officials are coming tomorrow morning and you will be leaving in three days to go to the palace."

Isabella pulled out of the hug and looked in disbelief at her guardian. "Well, we have three days, my dear Maria; let's make the most of it."

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Hey. I'm back with the 3rd chapter in this story. Hope you enjoyed it. The next chapter is going to take a while, because I have quite a few assignments and tasks due before school closes down, so yeah! Please follow and favourite if you so far like this story. And place a review so I know exactly what you like! :)


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